AFTERNOON PRIME’S NEW PRIMA DONNAS
Prima Donnas is the major lead role of former child actor and now a young lady of 14, Jillian Ward
The afternoon drama block is bound for a head-on battle for ratings supremacy.
It may be early to tell Prima Donnas, premiering this afternoon
after Hanggang sa Dulo ng Buhay
Ko, will be able to even put a dent on the reign of Kadenang Ginto.
The ABS-CBN show has been receiving a lot of love from viewers with its campy catfights courtesy of the two young female leads and the two adult female leads.
Cassie’s and Marga’s fights are equally viral as their mothers’, Daniela and Romina, that these spawned a lot of memes, and of course, sky-high ratings and millions of views on YouTube.
Perhaps it is this formula of rivalry — of lasses and women being pitted against each other — that makes for inspiration in most afternoon shows. It has always been the formula of soaps, but it just became more talked about due to this age of virality.
And, yes, the said new show will have that with four lasses and two seasoned actresses known for their kontrabida (antagonist) roles.
Afternoon battle royale
Prima Donnas is the major lead role of former child actor and now a young lady of 14, Jillian Ward. She used to be the talkative kid in Trudis Liit (2010) and Daldalita (2011), but now she is blossoming to be a looker.
She leads the young cast as Donna Marie, the eldest of the fraternal triplets born via surrogacy. Her co-leads, Althea Ablan and Sofia Pablo, are more or less around her age.
Like Jillian, Althea started young and played the younger versions of actors in shows like Encantadia (2016) as young Alena and Mulawin
vs Ravena (2017) as young
Lawiswis.
Sofia, on the other hand, appeared in Sherlock Jr. (2018). She tried auditioning for a role in Yagit (2014), a project helmed by actor/director Gina Alajar, but was told she was too pretty to be a yagit (slang for street urchin). Now she works with Alajar who directs the show.
Althea and Sofia complete the trio of Prima Donnas in the show as Donna Belle and Donna Lyn, respectively. The three are the long-lost granddaughters of the Claveria matriarch, Primarosa, played by Chanda Romero. Hence, their names.
But they’re not the only young talents that will see their stars shine in the show. There’s Elijah Alejo, who will play the bratty, Brianna, who will torment the three sisters in the show. Now, Elijah’s brattiness can only be inspired with an adult figure, who else but her mother, Kendra, played by Aiko Melendez.
Aiko, fresh from her US vacation, is back to wreak madness on afternoon TV. She made Emilia Ardiente of Wildflower, a household name. This time, she hopes people will bury Emilia and come to embrace Kendra.
“Direk Gina and I talked about ‘erasing’ Emilia (from peoples’ minds). I am thankful to her because she focused on me. That’s why even my Facebook account, I changed my name to Kendra Melendez. I hope Emilia will be gone in their heads, and instead Kendra will find a place in their hearts,” she enthuses.
She’s reunited with Wendell Ramos, who was her leading man in Wildflower. While they were in cahoots there, in this show, she will be obsessed with Wendell’s Jaime, who is happily married to Maita (played by Glaiza, appearing in a special role). The couple has been trying to conceive but could not and thus they turned to surrogacy.
No, Aiko is not going to butt heads (maybe literally in the future) with Glaiza,aknownbida-kontrabida actor. But suprisingly, the other female lead is Katrina Halili, another bidakontrabida actress whose film and TV credit mostly includes antagonistic roles.
In this show, however, she is Lillian, the surrogate mother of the three Donnas. She says her character is more challenging because she would be playing a meeker role but, alas, casting Katrina is a giveaway of where show runners would eventually lead the story.
With four lasses vying for an heiress spot in the Claveria fortune, and two mothers fighting for their child/children’s rights, does this sound familiar all over again?
Will it be The Gold Squad (the name of the four young leads of the rival show) or the Prima Donnas ruling afternoon prime? Viewers will be the judge.